


Nice to Meet You (Again)

by etymology_of_etymology



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Batfamily (DCU), Brotherly Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Insomnia, Late Night Conversations, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Non-Graphic Violence, References to Drugs, References to Under the Red Hood, Sibling Bonding, finding your sibling in the kitchen and talking about life when you should both be sleeping, references to the primal urge to absolutely destroy your siblings in video games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28641855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etymology_of_etymology/pseuds/etymology_of_etymology
Summary: "Hi, I'm Duke," he said and immediately wanted to kick himself because the guy probably already knew that.The 'stranger' snorted before he looked up at Duke properly. "Jason," he offered, "we've met."Duke, newly brought in to the Batfamily, finds the Red Hood in the manor kitchen late at night.
Relationships: Duke Thomas & Jason Todd
Comments: 6
Kudos: 175





	Nice to Meet You (Again)

There was a light on in the kitchen which Duke was immensely grateful for, because he didn't think he'd have found the room otherwise. He froze in the doorway. There was a young man sitting at the table. Duke didn't recognize the guy. He figured he probably _knew_ him (in a mask and body armor), but seeing someone in costume was totally different than being able to recognize that same person when they were in their civvies.

He was hunched over a steaming mug and almost looked asleep himself. There was a white lock of hair dangling over the middle of his forehead. The towel over his shoulders and a slight dampness to his hair suggested that he must have just gotten out of the shower. In a plain t-shirt and sweats he looked so _normal_.

"Hi, I'm Duke," he said and immediately wanted to kick himself because the guy probably already knew that.

The 'stranger' snorted before he looked up at Duke properly. His eyes were that deep sort of green that you knew probably existed in real life but never expected to see. "Jason," he offered, "we've met."

_Jason Todd. The second Robin. The Red Hood._ Not to mention all the other dramatic titles he had probably picked up over the years. Just because Duke had recently started his days by sitting across from a local urban legend, as said urban legend drank his coffee and asked about what would be happening at school today (which was surreal enough on it's own thank you very much), didn't mean he was mentally prepared to find a (former?) crime lord drinking tea at the kitchen table. Not to mention that this particular crime lord was technically his older brother now. Why did that feel weirder than having Batman as a dad?

"Yeah, I figured." Duke scratched the back of his neck.

He remembered years ago when rumors of someone using the Red Hood moniker again started circulating. The grown-ups always spoke in hushed tones and stopped talking if they thought a child could hear them. That's the funny thing about grown-ups; they seem to forget that kids can be pretty smart, especially when it comes to figuring out that all the adults are worried about something. So back when Duke was in middle school, when the teachers and the parents worried about a new villain and whispered about 'The Red Hood' all the kids heard them. They heard about the guns and the drugs and the explosions. They heard about how this was all happening only a few neighborhoods away from them.

The Red Ho- Jason shrugged. He looked more amused than anything.

He remembered a few years back when the Red Hood had first really started to gain traction and territory. There were heads in a duffel bag that had been delivered to the GCPD. That had been on the morning news and all the schools in the area had promptly cancelled classes. There were videos of The Red Hood fighting Batman all over the internet in the following months and a kid down the street swore he saw someone in a red helmet on the roof.

"So, what are you doing up?"

"I.. well.." Honestly, Duke just couldn't sleep.

"Sit down, kid. I don't bite." Jason nudged the chair across from him out.

He also remembered something his mom had mentioned. About when the children she worked with would sometimes mention a man in a red helmet. About how the man in the red helmet knocked on the window when their parents were yelling too loud or being scary. Or how they saw the man in the red helmet leave groceries on the windowsill.

Duke found himself grabbing the chair and plopping down on autopilot. It wasn't like he was scared of the guy. He had met the Red Hood before in costume and the guy was... kind of a dork. Like he had been cast as 'tough guy number three' for the school play when he was a kid a decided that it was his new aesthetic. Sure he had the intimidating build and the awesome motorcycle, but Duke had seen him walk into a doorway and then yell, ' _meant to do that._ ' He had seen him tap on Robin's shoulder and then look away (didn't work; and Robin was not amused). Also a candy bar smacked him in the head while he was out on patrol with Batman the other night and he's pretty sure that Hood's the one who threw it. 

"I know, it's just-" Duke scooted his chair closer to the table. "Haven't seen you out of costume yet." It's just so _weird_ to see him so _normal_. "It kind of took me by surprise."

Jason laughed and slid a mug across the table to Duke. Why did the guy have a second mug?

"Were you waiting for me down here?" Duke asked.

"In a way," Jason said. Like that wasn't concerning. 

"I heard you moving," he said, apparently have taken pity on Duke. "Figured you would find your way to the kitchen eventually."

"You heard me?"

"Creaky boards. The manor's pretty old."

"Huh." He grasped the mug and brought it to his lips. Earl grey? At probably 3am? At this point why not? 

"I'm hoping for the caffeine crash to knock me out," Jason explained. "Speaking of which." Jason drank from his own mug. "Why are you up?" 

"Just couldn't sleep, not really." It was that horrible feeling of being exhausted, but trapped in wakefulness. Duke shrugged "And you?" Might as well ask.

"Just got in." Jason stood up with his mug and headed over to the sink. "I would have just crashed at a safehouse but-" Jason breathed out a lengthy sigh as he scrubbed his mug. "There were cars watching my favorites so I just came back home."

"That sounds likes a problem." Should Duke be worried? It _really_ sounded like something they should be worried about.

"Yeah, for tomorrow." Jason walked over and plucked Duke's now empty mug out of his hands. "It's probably just the GCPD or Black Mask or whoever I've managed to tick off this week."

"Huh."

"It's a long list," Jason said, as he dried off their mugs and put them back into the cabinet. He sounded way too satisfied with himself. 

Jason turned back to Duke. "Come on, let's go," he said.

"What?" Duke asked.

"Bedtime," Jason said. He patted Duke on the back as he passed him. "You're gonna want to be awake for tomorrow, cause Cass and I are going to crush the rest of you in Smash."

**Author's Note:**

> I've been suffering from a bit of insomnia myself lately. Mostly, I wrote this because I wanted to flesh out Duke and Jason's relationship for myself before writing the second chapter of my fic: "[Don't Teach Children Things (They Use It Against You) ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27951281/chapters/68455040)" where I've been planning an opening sceen with the two of them interacting.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


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